Road to WRIAD

Well, it seems like it is on, at least for now, so that means I have a few more weeks to make rides count towards getting the saddle time I need to survive 102 miles and more hours then I have been on a bike to date.

So, this past Sat I was on call and could not get too far from home or phone service.  That meant a local ride, home based if possible.  I opted for a ride I call Triple Bypass.  It knits together three different loops of about ten miles and one hour + each and makes for a pretty good workout.  I am fighting either a cold or allergies...not sure which, so that was a bummer, but it is what it is.

More to come, but the tale of the Triple Bypass:  32.4 miles D to D, 4,330' of elevation gain.  4 hours of 'out there' time.  I felt OK actually, a bit tired, but I had much more in the bank at the end.  Good base miles to build on.  Hopefully the week nights can be hard but short efforts, lots of SS time, and then at least one good ride on the weekends to drive some depth into the legs.

We shall see.  The Epic Marathon was working well and the carbon Rovals shod with the new tubeless Conti X Kings were all I could ask for.  I need to R&R the front Reba with some fresh lube, but I think it is ready.  if I get another frame in time (in the works) I might take that but only if I get the build done early in the month of March.  No way will I go into WRIAD on anything but proven stuff.

I need to sort out cargo capacity.  I think I might pop the bikepacking seat bag onto the Epic and carry clothes and emergency shelter in there.  That would leave the water toting duty to the Osprey Talon 22.  Need to work all that out.  I am thinking about 2 large water bladders + some bottles and bags of powdered mix.   I sure wish the Epic had more than one WB mount.  Silly race bikes.